The Honorable Thomas J. Tauke, Retired, Verizon Communications

Board Officer: Chair, Executive Committee

Thomas J. Tauke retired as executive vice president - Public Affairs, Policy and Communications at Verizon Communications Inc. In that role, Tauke oversaw media relations, employee communications, reputation management, philanthropy, corporate responsibilityand external relations for Verizon. As the company’s senior policy executive, he was responsible for the development of Verizon’s public policy positions and advocacy. He served as a member of Verizon’s Leadership Council.

Before joining NYNEX (a predecessor company of Verizon) in 1991, Tauke was a member of Congress, representing Iowa’s Second Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. During his congressional service from 1979 to 1991, he served on the Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, and Small Business Committees, as well as the Select Committee on Aging. He also was on the Pepper Commission on Comprehensive Health Care, the Infant Mortality Commission and the Biomedical Ethics Board.

Tauke served as a member of the Iowa General Assembly from 1975 to 1979.

Tauke was a past chairman of the U.S. Telecom Association, where he is currently on the Board of Directors. He was chair of the Board of BIPAC (Business Industry Political Action Committee); serves as chair of the Executive Committee of the Board of Jobs for America’s Graduates, an organization that supports mentoring, job-training and education for young people; sits on the Executive Committee and the Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he chairs its Telecommunications and e-Commerce Committee; co-chairs the Coalition for a Fiscally Sound America; and serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Broadband for America. He also chairs the board of Home Technology Systems, Inc., in Dubuque, Iowa. He has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations and is past chair of the Board of Regents of Loras College and the Washington Center.

Tauke received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loras College in 1972 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1974.